Apple's iPad has expanded upon the casual gaming beachhead the company first discovered to be a popular role for its iPod touch. Now, developers are working to deliver titles that combine motion-based play with 1080p HDTV output.

Australian developer Firemint has announced it will be supporting 1080p direct HDTV output from its Real Racing 2 HD title on iPad 2.

Unlike Apple's standard video mirroring mode, which can display any iPad 2 game or other app on a big screen, the new title will provide full resolution output without the black letterboxing bands or need for resolution scaling.

The developer says it's the first iOS app for iPad 2 to take advantage of custom 1080p video output, and can use an external HDTV display to show the main action of the racing game while the iPad 2 itself depicts a map of the racetrack.

Users play using the iPad as a controller, making use of its multitouch screen and motion controls, as iPad 2 now includes both accelerometer and gyroscope sensors.

New HDMI and existing VGA output adapters for iPad enable games to leap from the tablet to an external display for a console-like gaming experience, further entrenching Apple into a market it has long ignored.

This winter, the developer of World of Goo reported that its iPad launch exceeded its previous sales and revenue records for both Nintendo WiiWare and Steam desktop gaming, as well as the indie markets for Microsoft's Xbox Live Arcade and Sony's PS3 PlayStation Network, establishing new legitimacy for Apple's iOS as a significant gaming platform.

I can't help thinking how ridiculous it looks having that unwieldy HDMI breakout adapter hanging off the side of the iPad. A wifi connection between the iPad and TV would be so much more elegant.

It would be more elegant, but we need to consider the max bit rate and latency that would occur from pushing this content over your homes WiFi, through a router and into an AppleTV to process. Even over 802.11n I worry about this being an issue.

That said, I think there is plenty of room for incorporating the iOS-based iDevices used in a home with an AppleTV over WiFi and hope that Apple will be surprising us with an AppleTV SDK and App Store this year.

Perhaps its still too soon to have an HD racing game with 4 drivers all using their iOS-based iDevices to drive while the main screen is transmitting 4 different section, one for each drivers car, but thinking smaller, displaying stats of a race and an overhead view of the track on the HDTV would likely allow for 1080p content with only the simplistic data of position on track and stats being relayed to the AppleTV to project in real time.

There are plenty of other games that would be better suited for a family environment and be very simple to make. Scrabble has already done this with the iPad. You can use a single iPad for the game board and iPhones, iPod Touches and iPads as the 4 tile boards. You flick the letters to the main board and then arrange them. It even remembers what side of the board you are on after you rotate the screen once on your turn. This and many other games seems like it would be trivial to adapt to this model.

Dick Applebaum on whether the iPad is a personal computer: "BTW, I am posting this from my iPad pc while sitting on the throne... personal enough for you?"

Unfortunately, WiFi cannot accommodate anywhere near enough bandwidth to transmit a 1080p signal to a separate device. AirPlay works by buffering the file to another device, not by sending the decoded a/v signal to the device. I don't think any wireless protocol is available to the consumer that can accommodate what an HDMI cable can do, but in any case, it would be impossible over AirPlay.

Unfortunately, WiFi cannot accommodate anywhere near enough bandwidth to transmit a 1080p signal to a separate device. AirPlay works by buffering the file to another device, not by sending the decoded a/v signal to the device. I don't think any wireless protocol is available to the consumer that can accommodate what an HDMI cable can do, but in any case, it would be impossible over AirPlay.

Unless the game plays on AppleTV with a controller client on the iPad, iPod, or iPhone.

It would be more elegant, but we need to consider the max bit rate and latency that would occur from pushing this content over your homes WiFi, through a router and into an AppleTV to process. Even over 802.11n I worry about this being an issue.

I think Airplay uses ad-hoc networking - essentially a rebrand of Wi-Di like Thunderbolt is to Light Peak, although Thunderbolt is Intel's brand name too - so it basically connects directly from the iPad to the ATV using full 802.11n. Should be low latency, high bandwidth.

Games will need to be modified to go widescreen but this is certainly a very good development.

The iPhone 5 will do this too though and if they can output to an HDTV at 1080p, they could have output to a 10" iPad touch screen too but costs may not make it worthwhile to do it.

Anyway, the iPhone will be better for HDTV gaming due to the form factor and weight. The only immediate concern for both would be battery life when projecting 1080p over wifi continuously. The HDMI cable would be far better in this regard.

Good steps in the right direction though but more developers still need to get their titles on the platform, even older ones. So many big cross-platform titles that can come over.

Um… no. Look, AI. It’s sort of cute when you, Gruber, and other pro-Apple outlets try to claim that Apple is somehow chewing into the console games market, but… the fact is, they aren’t. The iPod Touch (and iPhone to a lesser extent) are certainly excelling at the entry-level, casual games market. After all, for people who just want to play something simple on the subway ride to work or while waiting in line somewhere, why spend $250 on a 3DS? Apple’s done a great job of getting into that market.

But there are very few people out there who are going to spend $500+ on an iPad and $40 on an HDMI adapter when they can get an Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 for half that. Just isn’t going to happen. If anything, the iPad will slightly cannibalize the gaming segment of the iPod Touch user base.

I love AI, Daring Fireball, and my Apple products, but Apple-oriented sites really have to rethink how they look at the gaming market. Angry Birds and Real Racing HD are not the ruin of, or even legitimate competition for, Assassin’s Creed, Final Fantasy, Call of Duty, Battlefield, anything named Mario, Gran Turismo, Forza Motorsport, or any other long-running console franchise I can list here. Just is not. There’s a huge blind spot among Apple punditry when it comes to gaming.

Unless the game plays on AppleTV with a controller client on the iPad, iPod, or iPhone.

Yes, you are absolutely correct. But while I would hope the next AppleTV could do this, I don't expect Apple will come through; if they did, it would be a serious deviation from their previous precedents. But who knows, the money they are making with App Store games may entice them to go in that direction.

Quote:

Originally Posted by desides

Um… no. Look, AI. It’s sort of cute when you, Gruber, and other pro-Apple outlets try to claim that Apple is somehow chewing into the console games market, but… the fact is, they aren’t. The iPod Touch (and iPhone to a lesser extent) are certainly excelling at the entry-level, casual games market. After all, for people who just want to play something simple on the subway ride to work or while waiting in line somewhere, why spend $250 on a 3DS? Apple’s done a great job of getting into that market.

But there are very few people out there who are going to spend $500+ on an iPad and $40 on an HDMI adapter when they can get an Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 for half that. Just isn’t going to happen. If anything, the iPad will slightly cannibalize the gaming segment of the iPod Touch user base.

I love AI, Daring Fireball, and my Apple products, but Apple-oriented sites really have to rethink how they look at the gaming market. Angry Birds and Real Racing HD are not the ruin of, or even legitimate competition for, Assassin’s Creed, Final Fantasy, Call of Duty, Battlefield, anything named Mario, Gran Turismo, Forza Motorsport, or any other long-running console franchise I can list here. Just is not. There’s a huge blind spot among Apple punditry when it comes to gaming.

I really am getting tired of the name "casual games." I agree that the iPad is not a good home for something like a FPS or a 3D platformer, but that doesn't mean that an iPad couldn't handle appropriate new and old "core" genres that are better suited to the iPad. For instance, I can easily see something like Total War: Shogun 2 being made for the iPad, and if you think that is a "casual" game, you should tell that to the PC "core" crowd. Also, apart from Apple probably disallowing it, there really isn't a reason a developer couldn't make a game for which a PS3 controller could be connected to an iPad or iPhone.

But there are very few people out there who are going to spend $500+ on an iPad and $40 on an HDMI adapter when they can get an Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 for half that. Just isn’t going to happen. If anything, the iPad will slightly cannibalize the gaming segment of the iPod Touch user base.

And then can they carry their XBox around with them as a general purpose computing device? Can they run word processing, sound editing, presentation creation, technical diagraming, data base or photo editing software on it?

The comparison always seems to be between buying a console, exclusively to play games, and buying an iPad, exclusively to play games-- but of course that's never the case. An iPad gives you games plus a great deal more.

So if games are absolutely what you want, then sure, you'll get a console. But it's shortsighted to imagine that their aren't a good number of people who would trade off state of the art game play for really good game play plus mobile computing.

They spoke of the sayings and doings of their commander, the grand duke, and told stories of his kindness and irascibility.

Unless the game plays on AppleTV with a controller client on the iPad, iPod, or iPhone.

yes! but with only 8G of SSD and 256M of RAM plus an older A4 processor chip, ATV 2 may not be able. think of ATV 2 and iPad 1 as a pair, with limited abilities. then think of iPad 2 and an upcoming ATV 3 (with a bigger SSD, 512M RAM and an A5 chip) as a pair with much more powerful abilities. including what you suggest. dynamite! this fall i bet.

[edit] and oh, i forgot the third shoe. what about Game Center? if it works with this two-screen setup ...

The comparison always seems to be between buying a console, exclusively to play games, and buying an iPad, excessively to play games-- but of course that's never the case. An iPad gives you games plus a great deal more.

No one’s arguing that the Xbox 360 or PS3 can do as much or more than an iPad.

The contention in the AI article is that the iPad is beginning to infringe upon the territory of console gaming. It is not.

Um no. Look, AI. Its sort of cute when you, Gruber, and other pro-Apple outlets try to claim that Apple is somehow chewing into the console games market, but the fact is, they arent. The iPod Touch (and iPhone to a lesser extent) are certainly excelling at the entry-level, casual games market. After all, for people who just want to play something simple on the subway ride to work or while waiting in line somewhere, why spend $250 on a 3DS? Apples done a great job of getting into that market.

But there are very few people out there who are going to spend $500+ on an iPad and $40 on an HDMI adapter when they can get an Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 for half that. Just isnt going to happen. If anything, the iPad will slightly cannibalize the gaming segment of the iPod Touch user base.

I love AI, Daring Fireball, and my Apple products, but Apple-oriented sites really have to rethink how they look at the gaming market. Angry Birds and Real Racing HD are not the ruin of, or even legitimate competition for, Assassins Creed, Final Fantasy, Call of Duty, Battlefield, anything named Mario, Gran Turismo, Forza Motorsport, or any other long-running console franchise I can list here. Just is not. Theres a huge blind spot among Apple punditry when it comes to gaming.

well dude, you are right that the hard core gamers who are addicted to the XBox or PS3 will not switch to iPad gaming in large numbers.

but then there is the other 95% of digital consumers that might go for it instead. we may not count in your eyes, but we sure do at the cash register.

No ones arguing that the Xbox 360 or PS3 can do as much or more than an iPad.

The contention in the AI article is that the iPad is beginning to infringe upon the territory of console gaming. It is not.

How do you know that? Is it really inconceivable that people have purchased a console because there wasn't anything else even approaching that for use on a TV, but given the choice between a dedicated console and an iPad they might choose the iPad as their gaming device, once those games hit a certain threshold of sophistication?

They spoke of the sayings and doings of their commander, the grand duke, and told stories of his kindness and irascibility.

How do you know that? Is it really inconceivable that people have purchased a console because there wasn't anything else even approaching that for use on a TV, but given the choice between a dedicated console and an iPad they might choose the iPad as their gaming device, once those games hit a certain threshold of sophistication?

And we do have evidence to support that the most powerful gaming systems are the most commonly bought or used. There is the Nintendo Wii far outselling those other more powerful consoles. There is also the PS2 still being a popular choice long after newer, more powerful consoles hit the market.

PS: I’ve come to hate the term “casual gamer” because it seems to only be used by those who smugly consider themselves better than others that plays games on electronic devices, and has this odd air of their gaming inclinations being professional in nature. The point of gaming, of any kind, is to entertain not to measure one’s dick and self esteem by how many gigaflops or gigafucks or whatever are needed to play the game. Let the game designers pat themselves on the back for that, not the damn players who forked over $50 for the game.

Dick Applebaum on whether the iPad is a personal computer: "BTW, I am posting this from my iPad pc while sitting on the throne... personal enough for you?"

yes! but with only 8G of SSD and 256M of RAM plus an older A4 processor chip, ATV 2 may not be able. think of ATV 2 and iPad 1 as a pair, with limited abilities. then think of iPad 2 and an upcoming ATV 3 (with a bigger SSD, 512M RAM and an A5 chip) as a pair with much more powerful abilities. including what you suggest. dynamite! this fall i bet.

[edit] and oh, i forgot the third shoe. what about Game Center? if it works with this two-screen setup ...

Well, the A4 is not old yet. There are million of iPads and iPhones running it. If Apple updates AppleTV then it is more likely have the same A5, which includes 512MB RAM. But I agree about the flash storage. There need to be more than 8GB.

I personally think that Apple will replace all A4s with A5s by the end of this year once all the iDevices get updated.

Um no. Look, AI. Its sort of cute when you, Gruber, and other pro-Apple outlets try to claim that Apple is somehow chewing into the console games market, but the fact is, they arent. The iPod Touch (and iPhone to a lesser extent) are certainly excelling at the entry-level, casual games market.

What you seem to fail to grasp is that Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft are all trying to target indie/casual gaming on their console platforms, because they realize there is a lot of potential in that market, and that if critical mass continues to grow among iOS style and web gaming, there simply won't be enough to carry the development of expensive loss leader consoles and the production of big budget games, at least on the former scale of consoles.

You can state your opinion without a disrespectful and arrogant tone, which will make it easier for you to acknowledge that you are wrong when somebody comes along and points out that, for example, while television offers a much less engaging experience compared to movie theaters, it still managed to brutally impact the original size and scope of theatrical productions in the 50s, through the 80s move to multiplex cinemas, and today's continuing shift toward home theater, HDTV and 3D.

You're arguing that the movie palaces of the 1920s won't ever go away because TV is small an black and while. Quite ignorant. How about the once ubiquitous video game arcades of the 80s? How about the 2600 game crash? Are you aware on any level that markets change? How about the collapse of album sales with digital downloads combined with alternative forms of entertainment competing for consumers' attention and dollars? Including the same apps that are eroding conventional video games.

Unless the game plays on AppleTV with a controller client on the iPad, iPod, or iPhone.

good point and that should be an option, it's too big a missed opportunity to not use the atv for this, maybe you should work for apple (seriously), because this is a very good point, missed by almost everyone so far.

yes! but with only 8G of SSD and 256M of RAM plus an older A4 processor chip, ATV 2 may not be able. think of ATV 2 and iPad 1 as a pair, with limited abilities. then think of iPad 2 and an upcoming ATV 3 (with a bigger SSD, 512M RAM and an A5 chip) as a pair with much more powerful abilities. including what you suggest. dynamite! this fall i bet.

[edit] and oh, i forgot the third shoe. what about Game Center? if it works with this two-screen setup ...

Quote:

Originally Posted by NasserAE

Well, the A4 is not old yet. There are million of iPads and iPhones running it. If Apple updates AppleTV then it is more likely have the same A5, which includes 512MB RAM. But I agree about the flash storage. There need to be more than 8GB.

How much is currently used by the new AppleTV. Less than 1GB? Need for Speed HD is only 207MB, at least as the downloadable file from the iTS.

While 16GB would be better, I dont think 8GB is an issue, especially if were talking about 720p. I would expect a 1080p version of the iPad to include 16GB, at least 512MB RAM (though hopefully 1GB if they only plan to update them bi-yearly).

Dick Applebaum on whether the iPad is a personal computer: "BTW, I am posting this from my iPad pc while sitting on the throne... personal enough for you?"

No ones arguing that the Xbox 360 or PS3 can do as much or more than an iPad.

The contention in the AI article is that the iPad is beginning to infringe upon the territory of console gaming. It is not.

We've heard the same argument before. The iPhone and iPod touch will never infringe upon the territory of PSP and Nintendo DS because they are not for hardcore gaming. The truth is serious and hardcore gamers are minority.

And we do have evidence to support that the most powerful gaming systems are the most commonly bought or used. There is the Nintendo Wii far outselling those other more powerful consoles. There is also the PS2 still being a popular choice long after newer, more powerful consoles hit the market.

PS: Ive come to hate the term casual gamer because it seems to only be used that smugly consider themselves better than anyone else who plays games on electronic devices and has this odd air of their gaming inclinations being professional in nature. The point of gaming, of any kind, is to entertain not to measure ones dick and self esteem by how many gigaflops or gigafucks or whatever are needed to play the game. Let the game designers pat themselves on the back for that, not the damn players who forked over $50 for the game.

Yes, this, exactly. There's always that air of dismissing the newbees and rubes and wannabes as being the "hardcore gamer's" contempt, and that they should leave the big games to the big boys.

Besides being startling (I mean, they're games, do you really expect people to respect you for playing them like it was a trade?), it completely misses the points of the economics of the industry.

If there's lots and lots and lots of money to be made by catering to people who might never have bought an XBox, then, bingo, that becomes the game industry. It's not a religion. It's not a secret society of initiates. It's a business, and it aims to make money.

You can bitch about the lesser beings all you want, but as the Wii has demonstrated, there's good money to be made being much broader in your definition of "gamer" than Sony or MS seem interested in. And in business, categories are defined by where the money is.

They spoke of the sayings and doings of their commander, the grand duke, and told stories of his kindness and irascibility.

It's the graphics quality of the N64 at 1080p with the same low cheesy quality of all ipod games. Nowhere even close to a console.

$1-5 dollar gimmick games are the future thanks to apple.

The future of games are whatever people want to buy and whatever they enjoy playing. And whoever makes those games will reap the rewards. The idea that all of this is being foisted onto us by Apple is just straight up dumbfuckery.

They spoke of the sayings and doings of their commander, the grand duke, and told stories of his kindness and irascibility.

Unfortunately, WiFi cannot accommodate anywhere near enough bandwidth to transmit a 1080p signal to a separate device. AirPlay works by buffering the file to another device, not by sending the decoded a/v signal to the device. I don't think any wireless protocol is available to the consumer that can accommodate what an HDMI cable can do, but in any case, it would be impossible over AirPlay.

It would still be cool at standard definition if that is possible. Regardless you should still be able to use AirPlay for board games.

Yes, this, exactly. There's always that air of dismissing the newbees and rubes and wannabes as being the "hardcore gamer's" contempt, and that they should leave the big games to the big boys.

[]

Its funny how every time there is an article about the iPad or iPhone being used in professional sense the dissenting argument is that its a toy, yet when there is a focus on gaming its no longer a toy, but something even less. I dont think Apple can win with these people no matter what they do.

Dick Applebaum on whether the iPad is a personal computer: "BTW, I am posting this from my iPad pc while sitting on the throne... personal enough for you?"

How much is currently used by the new AppleTV. Less than 1GB? Need for Speed HD is only 207MB, at least as the downloadable file from the iTS.

While 16GB would be better, I dont think 8GB is an issue, especially if were talking about 720p. I would expect a 1080p version of the iPad to include 16GB, at least 512MB RAM (though hopefully 1GB if they only plan to update them bi-yearly).

The current flash storage is not a big issue right now but games are getting larger as the processors get better. Rage HD is over 1GB. Infinity Blade is around 700MB. But think about this. What if the game is not required to be stored on AppleTV? What if older games are deleted if more space is needed while the files containing progress and references are saved. If you want to play the game again then AppleTV will pull it from your iDevice and if you made more progress then it will update.

But there are very few people out there who are going to spend $500+ on an iPad and $40 on an HDMI adapter when they can get an Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 for half that. Just isnt going to happen. If anything, the iPad will slightly cannibalize the gaming segment of the iPod Touch user base.

I agree with you about the titles but not so much on the cost. The cheapest, latest model PS3 and 360 are $300 on Amazon. Games for the platform are $40-60. Even if you say $40 and you get 5 games, your cost is $500. iPad games are about $10 each so it would be $550. Another game or two and the iPad is better value.

The games are quite poor just now but the selection is much higher and console games aren't all that great either. There are only a few games on each platform that stand out.

While there's no making up for those titles not being available, this has the potential to change casual gaming in a big way. Imagine a family playing a board game like Monopoly or Clue hooked up to the big TV. No more need to have a cupboard full of boxed games. You can even play pictionary without having sheets of paper everywhere and pens that run out of ink. Music games, rockband-type games and so on.

Plus as people have mentioned, you also get a tablet device to use for browsing, books and other apps.

It can't replace the console role until it has the big titles but that can easily come in time. The iPad 2 has only just reached the required graphics performance bar to make this happen.

And we do have evidence to support that the most powerful gaming systems are the most commonly bought or used. There is the Nintendo Wii far outselling those other more powerful consoles. There is also the PS2 still being a popular choice long after newer, more powerful consoles hit the market.

Not anymore. The 360 is now outselling everyone since it hit a lower price point.

And the Kinnect is the fastest selling consumer electronic device in history.

The current flash storage is not a big issue right now but games are getting larger as the processors get better. Rage HD is over 1GB. Infinity Blade is around 700MB. But think about this. What if the game is not required to be stored on AppleTV? What if older games are deleted if more space is needed while the files containing progress and references are saved. If you want to play the game again then AppleTV will pull it from your iDevice and if you made more progress then it will update.

Back when the AppleTV 2 came out and before I think we talked about that. The iOS SDK allowing for Universal apps that would push the needed code for that game/app to the AppleTV so that you could interact your iOS-based iDevice as needed.

These files would take moments to transfer and once done wouldnt have to be pushed again unless the AppleTV storage was filled and needed room for a new game/app that you wanted to use remotely.

This was well before AirPlay was announced but surely long after Apple had put their AirPlay idea in motion.

Dick Applebaum on whether the iPad is a personal computer: "BTW, I am posting this from my iPad pc while sitting on the throne... personal enough for you?"

Not anymore. The 360 is now outselling everyone since it hit a lower price point.

And the Kinnect is the fastest selling consumer electronic device in history.

Suck it Mr. vaporware DED!

It’s a consumer electronics accessory which requires an Xbox 360 to function. This limits its sales to all the devices it’s designed for since they went on sale in 2005.

This gives it the advantage of extended the functionality of an aging CE device at a fairly low cost, but also gives it the disadvantage of limiting the potential sales to less than the number of Xbox 360s in use, save for some stolen or broken Kinects that need to be replaced.

You say it’s the fastest selling, but this is a pointless metric on its own since it only refers to speed without any inference of duration. I bet you that the iPad 2 will outsell the Kinect for the calendar year 2011, which would prove that the iPad 2 sold more units faster for that duration despite only having ¾ the time to do it in and having an average price 3x as high. Will you take that bet?

PS: Show us the links that the Xbox 360 is ever other CE device on the market.

The future of games are whatever people want to buy and whatever they enjoy playing. And whoever makes those games will reap the rewards. The idea that all of this is being foisted onto us by Apple is just straight up dumbfuckery.

Flooding the market with low quality games, not just low in graphics quality but in game play? That's nice. Isn't that completely opposite of what apple usually does?

Hey, guy that thought pong was all you had in your day: Its here in 1080p stereo sound. Enjoy.

No ones arguing that the Xbox 360 or PS3 can do as much or more than an iPad.

The contention in the AI article is that the iPad is beginning to infringe upon the territory of console gaming. It is not.

Quote:

Originally Posted by addabox

How do you know that? Is it really inconceivable that people have purchased a console because there wasn't anything else even approaching that for use on a TV, but given the choice between a dedicated console and an iPad they might choose the iPad as their gaming device, once those games hit a certain threshold of sophistication?

Desides misses by even more than that. It's not just that some consumers will be able to chose between an iPad and a dedicated console for gaming, it is that many consumers will be able to chose between the iPad they already own and buying a dedicated console for casual gaming!
Millions of people are buying iPads for other purposes--if people find that they can satisfy their gaming urge without having to buy a whole new system, then the console makers have something to worry about.

The contention that people who live for Call of Duty type games are the ones Apple has to convince to impact Sony and Nintendo is sort of silly...

Its a consumer electronics accessory which requires an XBOX360 to function. This limits its sales to all the devices its designed for since they went on sale in 2005.

Or any new Xbox you purchase. SO?

Quote:

This gives it the advantage of extended the functionality of an aging CE device at a fairly low cost, but also gives it the disadvantage of limiting the potential sales to less than the number of XBOX360s in use, save for some stolen or broken Kinects that need to be replaced.

And this is relevant to our discussion how?

Quote:

You say its the fastest selling, but this is a pointless metric on its own since it only refers to speed without any inference of duration. I bet you that the iPad 2 will outsell the Kinect for the calendar year 2011, which would prove that the iPad 2 sold more units faster for that duration despite only having ¾ the time to do it in and having an average price 3x as high. Will you take that bet?